Surgical emergency signal



Patented Oct. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE Application October 25, 1939, Serial No. 301,253

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to the detection of hemorrhages and the like, and has among its objects and advantages the provision of an improved emergency signal.

An object of our invention is to provide an emergency signal of the type described in which we provide a novel switch for energizing the circuit of the signal, wherein the switch is so designed as to permit incorporation in surgical dressings of a wound, or which can be placed in contact with a part of the body of a patient who may be in the course of transportation and himself unable to give warning of a hemorrhage. More specifically, the switch embodies circuit closing contacts normally maintained in nonconducting relation together with novel means for conductively relating the the contacts upon slight penetration of moisture onto the said means. The contacts are adapted to be brought into conducting relation through the aid of no more than one or two drops of liquid.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a top view of our invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view along the line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the switch unit and the electric circuit associated therewith.

In the embodiment selected to illustrate our invention, the switch unit I comprises a casing I2 of insulating material. The casing is preferably rectangularly cross sectioned and is originally open at its ends. Conducting strips I4 and I6 are respectively connected with wires I8 and 20 through the medium of screws 22. Wire I8 leads to a source of current 24, such as' a battery, while wire 20 is electrically connected with a buzzer 26. The wire 28 is electrically connected with the buzzer 26 and leads to the source of current 24 so that the electric circuit to the buzzer 26 will be closed whenever the contact strips I4 and I6 are brought into conducting relation.

Strip I4 is provided with a disc-like point 30 electrically related thereto, while the contact strip I6 is provided with a V-shaped contact 32 electrically related thereto. Strips I4 and I6 are formed of any suitable resilient material, and the inherent resiliency urges the points 30 and 32 in the direction of each other. The circuit through the buzzer 28 is broken as long as the points 30 and 32 are spaced or insulated apart. Spring elements 34 and 36 are respectively proso arranged as to exert pressure on the contact strips I4 and I6 for bringing the points 30 and 32 into more effective pressure relation.

Contact strips I4 and I6 and the spring elements 34 and 36 are insulated apart by sheets 42, 44 and 46 of insulating material. A similar sheet 48 is positioned between the spring element 36 and one wall of the casing I2, while a heavier insulating sheet 50 is positioned between the spring element 34 and the opposite wall of the casing. All the sheets, contact strips and spring elements are bored for the reception of a clamp screw 52 having its head 54 countersunk in one wall of the casing I2 and inserted through the aligned openings and threaded into a metallic sleeve 56 secured to the opposite wall of the casing. An insulating sleeve 58 may extend through the aligned openings about the clamp bolt 52 to prevent engagement with the contact strips or the spring elements.

Sheets 42 to 50 fit snugly within the four walls of the casing I2 and are effectively connected into a unitary structure through the medium of the clamp bolt 52. A cap 60 of insulating material is shaped in the form of a socket to receive one end of the casing I2, and is fixedly secured thereto through the medium of screws 62 threaded into the sheets 48 and 50. Sheet 44 is extended, as at 64, to provide a body into which the screws 22 are threaded for holding the wires I8 and 20 in firm electrical connection with their respective contact strips I4 and I6.

Cap 60 includes a neck 64 having an opening for accommodating the cord 66, comprising the wires I8 and 28. The opposite end of the casing I2 is normally closed by means of a detachable cap 68. The cap may be flanged at Iil to have frictional connection with the walls of the easing. Figure 2 illustrates the sheet 50 as being provided with a heavy blade I2 which extends substantially the full length of the housing I2. Blade I2 is of the same insulating material as the sheet 50, and is of considerable width and thickness so as to be considerably stiffer than the combined spring tension of the contact strip I4 and the spring element 34.

Points 3i! and 32 are insulated apart by means of a gauze tube 14. The gauze tube I4 is slipped over the end I6 of the blade "I2 and the contact strip I4. The tube I4 is of such diameter as to place the contact strip l4 and the spring element 34 under tension so as to be effectively held in place to prevent accidental displacement. However, contact strip I6 flexes in the direction vided with points 38 and 40 of insulating materi l of the strip l4 and is additionally urged there- Oct. 7, 19 1- A. H. J. DE LASSUS SAINT GENIES 2,

APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING PHOTOGRAPHS IN COLOR BY PROJECTION COPYING Filed March 10,1939

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